Papa John's takes home the top prize in customer satisfaction among limited-service restaurants, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) released today.

The brand received the highest score ever by an individual brand in the limited-service restaurant category, and it is the 11th time in the past 13 years that Papa John's has posted the highest score among national pizza businesses.

"A lot of poeple want to own quality, but it takes time and costs money to own quality," says John Schnatter, Papa John's founder, chairman, and CEO. "For more than 27 years, 'Better Ingredients, Better Pizza' has been the foundation of everything we strive for as a company. It's this long-term commitment to quality and providing our loyal customers with excellent service and superior quality pizza that has driven our success. And we will continue applying these core principles throughout every facet of our business."

In addition to the top overall ACSI score for quick serves, Papa John's score of 83 out of 100 tied the highest rating in the Full-Service Restaurant category. Papa John's also earned the highest score regarding product quality, service quality, and customer loyalty in the individual ACSI ratings for pizza businesses.

"We know our customers' expectations are very high and our team members work hard to deliver on those expectations--including investing in technology and providing pizza lovers with benefits not found with our competitors," Schnatter says. "We take great pride in the ACSI ranking, and it is a real testament to our franchise and corporate restaurant operators and team members and their focus on delivering a superior-quality product with excellent service."

The ACSI ranking comes on the heels of the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend Study naming Papa John's as its 2012 Pizza Brand of the Year due to the company's quality and consumer preference for the brand's pizza.